#goparks
Beautiful blue skies (not enhanced at all!) in Joshua Tree National Park. Heavy rains in the days before filled the Barker Dam Reservoir.
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Just after sunset in Joshua Tree National Park, a young tree catches the apenglow near Skull Rock.
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Snow in upper elevations of Joshua Tree National Park after record setting winter storms crossed Southern California in February.
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Thanks for everyone who followed our maiden voyage with the Teardrop. Here is a video we put together of our trip. Now time to explore the Northeast. Cheers!
Yellowstone National Park was the first National Park in the US. It was also the first National Park in the world and
for good reasons. With it’s thermal pools, wildlife, steam vents, mud pots, hot springs and geysers, Yellowstone is a very unique place. Rush hour in Yellowstone is caused by wildlife, there are over ten thousand thermal features and 500 of which are geysers. You feel
as if you are on a battlefield with steam vents, bubbling water and geyers shooting hot water up into the air all around you.
My brother and I played a game when we were young called “lava.” We would pretend the entire living room was filled with lava and we couldn’t touch the ground or we would die. So we would hop from one couch to another, over to the table, climb onto the chair and rock the chair backwards into a beanbag chair and so on. When the 5 of us were checking out the geyser basins that
was the first thing that popped into my head. With signs of death and warning of 200 degree water, it felt like real life “lava.” Heading east for the first time this trip > to the Badlands!
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I didn’t think any other national park would impress me the way Glacier did until I got to Grand Teton. The Grand Teton mountain range is so surreal looking. With it’s rugged outline, snowy passes and lakes that surround it, it was near impossible to look away from.
Jess and I met a cool kiwi in Zion. He had a 1969 Ford Econoline Camper Van and I couldn’t resist asking him to check out the inside. After having a few beers together that night we exchanged contact information and parted ways. We were fortunate enough to cross paths again in Grand Teton. Dan had some friends with him, a kiwi couple - Jen and Lloyd, two genuinely nice and cool humans. We shared a campsite together, after hiking all day we’d sit around the fire and laugh all night. It was nice to hang with like minded people and exchange laughs and stories with people from across the world. I hope that we may meet again, friends. I also hope I find myself gazing up at the Tetons again sooner than later.
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Zion National Park Part II
Yesterday we woke up early and hiked The Narrows. Which was probably the coolest most beautiful hike I have ever done. The sandstone canyon walls rise up hundreds of feet around you while you are waist deep in the light blue Virgin River. The “trail” follows the river as it winds through the canyon walls. Each time we came around the next bend, it was just as breathtaking as the last one. It is a hike I highly recommend. The enormous canyon walls will leave you speechless and wading through the river will make you feel like a 18th century explorer. We took the first bus for both Angel’s Landing and The Narrows which I also highly recommend. As we were ending our hikes, the crowds of people starting the trails were by the hundreds it seemed.
We got done with The Narrows in the afternoon. We packed up the truck and camper, made some lunch and hightailed it for California. Our original plan was to stop at Death Valley National Park. I am writing this blog entry from a parking lot in Big Sur, CA. Plans changed. - My mind was so free from the concept of time that I had no idea what date and day it was. Which caused us to run into a problem this morning. We pulled up to Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park and realized we were 1 day early. Being that all the campgrounds around are full, here we are. Anyway..
I drove about seven hours yesterday. My eyes started to sag so I pulled into a rest area next to some big rigs and set up camp. We finished the drive to Big Sur this morning.
Side note • After driving 100+ miles on the Pacific Coast Highway up towards Big Sur. I am officially declaring it to be America’s most beautiful scenic road.
I will post up pictures of our first day in Big Sur tomorrow morning!
Cheers!
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Zion National Park • Angel’s Landing Trail • Utah
This morning was great. We woke up at 5:20 and caught the 6 am shuttle to
“The Grotto” to get to the Angel’s Landing trailhead. Angel’s Landing is just over five miles roundtrip. With the last half of a mile with narrow routes and cliff exposures. Zion National Park is beautiful, when entering the park you drive through a mile long tunnel. The tunnel ends with a breathtaking view of the sandstone mountains and valley below.
After I am done eating this egg burrito we will be taking the shuttle to Emerald Pools for a short hike. Tomorrow morning we will be doing The Narrows if the weather stays beautiful. I can’t wait. Thanks to @squaretradegoodsco for hooking us up with some gear. Check them out for the best scents and rad gear
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#otd, 100 years ago, Theodore Roosevelt died at @sagamorehillnhs, in New York. When he ascended to the presidency in 1901 he was the youngest person to do so and ushered in a progressive era of reform. Part of that wave of reform was his work in preserving the scenic and historic wonders of this country as part of the future National Park Service. In Teddy’s words: “Leave it [wilderness] as it is. You cannot improve on it. The ages have been at work on it, and man can only mar it. What you can do is to keep it for your children, and for all who come after you, as the one great sight which every American… should see.“ To me, he remains the perfect example of a progressive American president who worked toward the common good. He is a complicated figure, for sure, but his contributions to enshrining American identity in wilderness are incomparable to any other American politician. Thank you, Teddy.
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#SagamoreHill #findyourpark #SagamoreHillNationalHistoricSite #Sagamore #Roosevelt #TeddyRoosevelt #TheodoreRoosevelt #NewYork #LongIsland #FindYourPark #GoParks #usinterior #experienceyouramerica #americasbestidea #protectpubliclands #travel #protectingparks #americanhistory #natparkexplorer #optoutside #thenationalparkspass #history #monumentsforall #sharetheexperience #nationalpark #nationalparkgeek #ibrakeforbrownsigns #nationalparkobsessed
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Sagamore Hill is probably my favorite “Presidential Home” or “Historical Home” unit in the NPS. The tour is spectacular there and everything is wonderfully preserved. There’s nothing quite like standing in Teddy’s office or Grand Hall and seeing his belongings and books and imagining him entertaining and talking to John Muir in that very room. (at Sagamore Hill National Historic Site)
https://www.instagram.com/p/BsTXY-cnmkc/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=rsrba5wsvrzt
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Happy #NationalBirdDay! Bird watching is one of my pastimes and living next to @evergladesnps makes that endeavor all the more fruitful. I don’t think it’s a surprise to anyone that EVER’s Barred Owls are among my favorite subjects to photograph, among others. When I was in 4th grade I wanted to be an ornithologist. 20 years later…. it didn’t exactly happen but I’m still happy that my love of owls endures.
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#Everglades #evergladesnp #evergladesnationalpark #evergladesnps #miami #florida #igersenp #igersbigcypress #FindYourPark #GoParks #usinterior #experienceyouramerica #americasbestidea #protectpubliclands #protectingparks #naturephotousa #natparkexplorer #optoutside #monumentsforall #sharetheexperience #nationalpark #nationalparkgeek #ibrakeforbrownsigns #nationalparkobsessed #owl #owls #barredowl #owlsofinstagram #audobonsociety (at Pahayokee Trail Everglades)
https://www.instagram.com/p/BsQYeHNne-M/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1ed7bhyww09rf
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Hal Canyon
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#arches #FindYourPark #archesnationalpark #archesNPS #moab #utah #moahutah #visitutah #discoverutah #utahrocks #FindYourPark #GoParks #usinterior #experienceyouramerica #americasbestidea #protectpubliclands #wnpa1938 #protectingparks #naturephotousa #natparkexplorer #optoutside #thenationalparkspass #findyourway #monumentsforall #sharetheexperience #nationalpark #nationalparkgeek #ibrakeforbrownsigns #nationalparkobsessed (at Colorado Riverway Recreation Area)
https://www.instagram.com/p/BsEva4un8fz/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1wyx0y5gxdy0
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Cow moose & calf crossing the road near Kelly, in Grand Teton National Park. November, 2020.
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The Grand emerging from the clouds after a snowstorm, Grand Teton National Park. November, 2020.
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The Grand emerging from the clouds after a snowstorm, Grand Teton National Park. November, 2020.
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